BLACKPINK sold more than 600,000 copies of their new album “The Album” in just two days to set the biggest initial sales record in K-pop girl group history.
Korea’s Hanteo Chart revealed the sales numbers for “The Album,” which was released in physical form on Oct. 6 after it was released online on Oct. 2.
Based on the chart, “The Album” sold 589,310 copies on the first day of release alone on Oct. 6, compared to “How You Like That,” which had 204,334 copies in sales on the first day. It sold 20,363 copies on the second day for a total of 609,673 copies in two days.
With the first day sales alone, Hanteo said BLACKPINK set a new record in first-week sales in K-pop girl group history. It said “The Album” reached the 500,000 copies sales mark in less than seven hours after its release.
Hanteo added that this is the first time in K-pop girl group history that an album reached 500,000 copies in sales in a short period of time.
“Considering that the accumulation excludes part of sales made in the US and Europe, we suspect that actual sales were in fact higher,” said YG Entertainment, BLACKPINK’s agency, according to its blog.
The agency revealed on Oct. 2 that “The Album” had garnered more than one million copies in pre-orders worldwide: 670,000 copies in South Korea and 340,000 copies in the US and Europe.
On the Chinese music streaming platform QQ Music, “The Album” has sold 839,216 copies as of writing. “The Album” topped iTunes album charts in 57 countries and territories including the US.
In addition, top music streaming platform Spotify listed “The Album” as No. 1 in the Top 10 Global Album Debuts and No. 3 in the Top 10 US Album Debuts for the Oct. 2 to 4 period. “Lovesick Girls” is No. 1 in the Top 10 Global Song Debuts for the same period.
YouTube earlier told Manila Bulletin Entertainment “Lovesick Girls” music video garnered 61.4 million views in the first 24 hours upon release on Oct. 2 to become the sixth biggest 24-hour music video debut on YouTube of all time.
The “Lovesick Girls” MV Premiere drew over 1.4 million peak concurrent viewers on Oct. 2 compared to 1.66 million peak concurrent viewers for “How You Like That” music video Premiere on June 26.